Stay connected in the wind. This forum is for anyone who rides the wind, winter or summer, on whatever board suits their fancy. Share the stoke, find out where people are going, ask any question, share your discoveries, and discuss any esoteric idea you may have related to the pursuit of wind. Please keep it positive.
Planning on my fourth (Gorge-IV)consecutive trip to the Gorge between July 17 and July 30th. Curious who else is heading that way. I suspect to see the typical crowd + maybe more...
Also does anyone know the phone number of David Cleveland? I sent him an email. Please let me know. baskint-at-hotmail-com. Thanks, all.
By the way, nice riding yesterday at Ramsey. 5.9m2/115lt was a combo on the bigger side, but my winter pounds saved the day (that's not an excuse to keep them though, must hit the gym and diet).
The usual suspects. Mike D, Tim V, Eric R... Pete G will be making his maiden voyage this year. Mike and I will arrive the 15th.
We need to do a "Jacks night". I plan on killing my brain with Scorpions this year. Last year they would not sell me a Scorpion if I didn't share it with someone! WTF!
Hopefully the Ultronz will play somewhere.
We will be at Tucker again.
Excellent, Brian. Sounds like the usual crowd which is great. Got to do another Tequaria too while at it. Will see you at Tucker on July 18, Sunday morning as the usual local (OR-WA-CA) crew are leaving for home. Not sure about Scorpions, but I could give those a try. Hope to get more water time this year, last year was so dar(m)n HOT, we had to drive long ways to the ocean (Lincoln City, Road's End). Still David Cleveland is no show and hasn't responded to my email. Someone told me yesterday "he's in Love". Then that could be it
Paul F - hope the WindFest is huge success and you get a lot of people riding with good winds. Renewed my CGWA membership again this year, and thanks for the wonderful member sticker. Stuck it to the back of my truck. Thanks for all that work (CGWA and et.al.) for keeping all the launch sites pristine and rider-friendly. I just hope that Hood River County does something similar for the Tucker park as well. Last year the bathrooms and trash services needed a lot of improvement. Thinking about the economy, I kind of let it go. But I am hoping things have improved this year. If there is an authority where we could press this forward we should know, please let us know. It is a beautiful country, and let's keep it that way! Don't let BP trucks/oil get close by
about Hood River County parks, I found this comment link on the site, and if anyone is heading that way, and put some good words/comments for clean-up, maybe it will get done.
I will be there July 1-6 with my 2 brother in-laws and 2 nephews. Charlie, Who lives in Portland sent this to me today. Thought you all might find it interesting.
Tom
Sailors:
It's time to begin preparations for the Gorge junket. As chief weather officer I am taking the opportunity to brief you on conditions.
It's been cold. The coldest May and June in two decades. It's been wet. Half the strawberry crop has rotted in the fields. The desert is still green. Episodic cold and wet weather systems are blowing right over the Cascades as if that entire mountain range was a mere berm on the landscape. Typical desert thermals rarely have enough time to form and that means little thermal-assist which tends to steady out the flow. These systems bring strong gusty winds up the Gorge. Spanky, unforgiving and ephemeral winds. You have to be there at the right time. The iwindsurf forecasters have deteriorated, so they can not be relied upon. Bart is AOL.
The factors setting this system up are changing very slowly. There is a massive North Pacific High (NPH) far to west and south of us. But there is an equally counter-massive low up off the coast of Alaska. A low like a black hole. these two monsters are doing the Dosey Doe. The NPH approaches the Oregon coast pushing strong west wind in, then backs off only to let cut-off lows spin in from the North. Then we get a day or two of a warm ridging high from California and everything turns off - glassy water ski off. Then the cold slams back in and wham - it's 3.0 conditions again. In Figure 1 below you can see the two behemoths setting up the dance. Today the warm ridging high looks like it will win.
But over the last week or so, the strength of these systems is waning ever so slightly. There have been days where a cloud line tries to form at Hood River and there are associated sun episodes in the desert. This is a good omen.
What this means:
There will be some good sailing, but be prepared to be challenged by conditions.
We may be going east to get more reliable winds. Bring some tunes and interesting conservation topics for the drive.
We will have to pay close attention to the weather conditions because the reliability of forecasts are low.
The rain has swollen the river and delayed the runoff. Flows have been above 300 kcfs for two weeks. The high flows make for epic swells from time to time. It's a thrill a minute when riding down swell which you have to do just to avoid the walk of shame due to the conveyor belt effect. On the other hand, the high flows mean that if you dawdle in the water when you fall in, you move down stream pretty fast.
Flows are forecast to taper off soon. Spill at The Dalles Dam is expected to cease during your visit. That will bring flows back to the 200 kcfs range which is perfect. But it could be delayed with continued cool wet weather.
Bring some warm clothes. It could be nippy up at Bruce and Lori's place in Parkdale - or down on the River for that mater. Warm hats and jackets. Hot tub will be a nice antidote.
I am still sailing in my steamer. I usually change to a medium suit by now. But I have not yet had to scoop cool water into the neck of the steamer when I get over heated. That is my telltale to change suits, and I have yet to be overheated after sailing four days. A few brave sailors are in short-sleeve suits. The river temp is 59F at The Dalles. It is still snow-melt colored. Not sure when the temp will bump up. I expect to be in my medium suit by July 4.
I am still in booties. I hate that. Without them my feet feel like stumps on the end of my leg. With them I am just clumsy which is the lesser of two evils. Bring yours if you have them.
Given the up and down conditions, I highly recommend you get boards that allow you can change fins. Bring some extra fins from your quiver at home. This will extend the range of your boards immensely. It really works. And it will allow us to avoid board-swapping visits to the shop which are always problematic.
Dude, I'm gonna miss hanging with you guys in da Gorge this year! Lake Michigan has been producing almost daily 15-25 kite sessions but no big days so far for windsurfing the waves. Make sure Pete gets appropriately lit at Tucker in the evenings. Hope you get lots of 3.7. . . .
(that's not an excuse to keep them though, must hit the gym and diet).